Love’s Suicide(71)
Author: Jennifer Foor

I cocked my eyebrow and looked at him, knowing he was full of shit. “You can sleep on the floor, I suppose.”

“I’m just playing. I got a honeymoon suite with a vibrating bed. Bug’s going to love it.”

I shook my head and kept looking at the menu, while he played peek-a-boo with B.

After we ate, Brooks drove us across the street and we headed inside to our room. Low and behold, it was a standard room in a regular hotel. Neither of the two beds vibrated, as I’d been told. Brooks tossed his things down and went into the bathroom. I heard the shower come on and knew he was getting in. Since the lady at the restaurant was kind enough to fill B’s sippy cup. She’d have enough to last her through the night. I got her little toys set up on the bed and watched as she pretended with them.

Brooks came out of the shower glistening with water, only wrapped in a towel. I couldn’t stop noticing the tattoo, and smiling from ear to ear every time I saw it.

He’d catch me and shake his head, having gotten it years ago and been used to it. I didn’t know if I’d ever get used to him branding my initial on his skin. He sat down on the bed next to me, looking for his boxer briefs. Considering that we weren’t alone, he turned around, and pulled them up. Once he turned back around, he was decent enough to lean over and see what she was doing. “Hey, bug. What are you doing over here?”

“Pincess.” She handed him a little princess doll.

“Where’s her prince?”

B looked around and finally spotted the prince. She handed it to Brooks. He moved them all around and then made them kiss. B started to giggle loudly, so he did it again. She laughed so hard that she fell back onto the bed. He reached up and kissed her tiny nose. “You may look like Daddy, but you act like Mama.”

He turned to look over at me and she jumped into his arms. I could tell she’d hurt his bad arm from the way he made a face, but he didn’t move her off of it. He endured the pain to hold her. B touched his nose back. “Nose.”

Brooks touched her nose. “B.”

When she went to do it to him again, she paused. I climbed up behind her and whispered, “Who is that?”

She smiled. “Daddy.”

I could see the world light up in Brooks’ eyes as he heard her say it for the first time. To be honest, I was quite shocked that she’d understood already. Though their resemblance was uncanny, it was difficult to explain who someone was to a child. I still didn’t know if she understood that he was literally the person that helped create her, but it was a start.

After he practically made her repeat it twenty times, they both settled into bed next to one another. I almost wished that I had my phone so I could snap pictures of them. As I sat there watching the two of them looking at a book together, I wanted to cry. Those two people were my entire reason for living. I’d never thought we’d be a family, and here we were making it happen.

It took her a while to fall asleep, and when she did, he came over and climbed under the covers with me. I felt those strong arms reaching around me and closed my eyes. “Are you excited about tomorrow?”

I turned and looked at him. “Seriously? My stomach is all knotted up.”

For a short time he sat there watching me looking at him. I wasn’t sure if he was thinking of something encouraging to say or considering leaving it be until morning. “Do you have anyone that can run by and check on things at your house?”

“Yeah.” I was glad he mentioned it. “I can call my old boss at the diner I waitressed at. She never really liked Bobby much, so he won’t be able to influence her into thinking I’m a piece of shit.”

“A waitress sounds like a hot job for you. Woman, what else are you hiding from me?”

I giggled. “I wasn’t an exotic dancer if that’s what you’re thinking. There’s no way dirty men are going to see me naked.”

“I’d pay an arm and a leg to see you dance naked.” He raised his eyebrows a few times in a row.

I rolled my eyes. “If I could dance, I’d do it for free, but we both know I have two left feet.”

“Well, we’re in luck, because I have two right feet.”

I shoved him away, but he came right back. “How about we get some rest?”

“How about you take off that Army shirt and we have a repeat of last night first?”

I could have said no and possibly been able to fall asleep quickly. The thing was, I’d just gotten Brooks back and after one night all I could think about was doing it again. I sat up and lifted the soft cotton shirt over my head. Brooks put his hands behind his head and watched me remove my underwear.

“This is never going to get old.”

I climbed on top of him and grabbed his dog tags, pulling him forward until our lips were touching. “Tell me you love me and I’ll give you that dance.”

“I love you, beautiful. Now, stand up and show me what you’ve got.”

He was going to be sorry for asking.

Chapter 41

“Kat, wake up.”

I peeked open my eyes and noticed that it was still dark. It explained the whisper, since he wouldn’t have wanted to wake up B. “Go away. I’m sleeping. It’s not even morning,” I whispered back.

“I have an idea that might make you feel better. Come on, wake up. The sun will be up soon. Don’t you want to know what it is?”

He wasn’t going to let up until I heard him out. “Fine, talk.”

I half opened my eyes and tried to listen, while dozing off from the very beginning. Apparently the military teaches soldiers to be able to go with little sleep. I didn’t like what they’d done to him, since this was most likely going to be a habit.

“You’re all upset over me not knowing about Brooklyn. You think that they’re going to flip out on you or something. I think I have a solution. What if we told them that I knew the whole time? I haven’t been home and they suspect there are a lot of reasons why I’m keeping my distance. It would only make sense that part of it was because of the baby. If we told them that you didn’t want Branch to know, they’ll believe us.”

I yawned and looked right at him. “Brooks, the only problem with your story is the part where I run off and get married to a stranger. How are we going to even begin to explain that?”

“We won’t tell them that either. They don’t need to know. Look, we all make mistakes. Last week I felt like my whole life was worthless. I thought you’d moved on and started a family with someone else. I wanted to bury myself ten feet in the ground and never look back. I don’t care about the details of when or who. All I care about is us. Wouldn’t it be nice to have a family to visit on the holidays? It’s better for them to know her when she’s small. That way she’ll never remember a time when they weren’t a part of her life.”